Espada
| textColour = #000000 }} The are the top-ranked and most powerful Arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army of Hollow-Shinigami hybrids, serving as the primary opponents of the Gotei 13 captains during Aizen's war. Outline The Espada are comprised of ten Arrancar with exemplary strength. Members of the Espada are given a number from 0-9.Bleach manga; Chapter 209, pages 4-5''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 354, pages 16-17 Each Espada has a tattoo with their number somewhere on them, such as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, whose tattoo is on his lower back,Bleach manga; Chapter 240, page 15 and Coyote Starrk, whose tattoo is on the back of his left hand.Bleach manga; Chapter 339, page 16 Along with Sōsuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tōsen, the Espada as a group possess comparable strength to Soul Society's Gotei 13 Shinigami captains.Bleach manga; Chapter 197, page 17 Their immense amount of power and leadership status among the Arrancar also grants each Espada the authority to exert command over Aizen's other forces within Las Noches: the Números, the Exequias,Bleach manga; Chapter 255, pages 7-10 and their own Fracción, chosen by them from the Números. Similar to the power gap between captains and lieutenants in the Gotei 13, the strength of the Espada far surpasses that of the average Número.Bleach manga; Chapter 209, page 9 Aizen himself is confident enough in his Espada's abilities to send them out on potentially hazardous missions, such as gathering information in the Human World, fighting Shinigami captains inside Las Noches and Karakura Town by themselves,Bleach manga; Chapter 297''Bleach'' manga; Chapters 231-232 and searching for Vasto Lorde.Bleach manga; Chapter 312, page 12 Being Aizen's most direct subordinates (aside from Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen), the Espada are privy to several of Aizen's plans and most intimate secrets, such as his goals of destroying Karakura Town and creating the Ōken, and the location of the Hōgyoku within Las Noches.Bleach manga; Chapter 229, page 13 Aizen's respect for the Espada's abilities is reflected in his manner of addressing them, often referring to them as "my dear Espada"Bleach manga; Chapter 244, page 17 and sitting at the head of the same table with them while discussing the events around Hueco Mundo.Bleach manga; Chapter 245, page 1 According to Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, though Aizen treats them as tools to do his bidding, he wanted to take back his position as an Espada to once again be close to Aizen.Bleach manga; Chapter 254, page 7 In accordance with this, Aizen is not at all distressed over the deaths of the Espada, and calmly congratulates the intruders in Las Noches for their victories against the Espada as he leaves for Karakura Town.Bleach manga; Chapter 314, page 6 There is a hierarchy among the Espada; a higher-ranked member can give orders to lower-ranked members, such as when Ulquiorra Cifer leads a team of lower-ranked Espada to kidnap Orihime Inoue.Bleach manga; Chapter 229, pages 11-17 Various missions usually involve one or more Espada operating together, with the most senior member exercising command over the others.Bleach manga; Chapter 191, page 9 While the lower-ranked members usually have little restraint in taking their own initiative (thus exceeding their orders), higher-ranked members usually stick to Aizen's commands, and are often the first to bail the others out of trouble, because, according to Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, they wish to prevent the Espada from losing one of their own.Bleach manga; Chapter 312, pages 12-15 However, Aizen's attitude toward the offending Espada members is one of leniency, officially forgiving them (though not without severe sanctions) on the grounds that they are merely advancing his own wishes.Bleach manga; Chapter 213, pages 9-16 The Espada have their own quarters within Las Noches, which have been designed to suit the specific Espada's taste. For instance, Szayelaporro Granz possesses a large building that he refers to as his "palace", complete with a hidden, indestructible laboratory and a changing room.Bleach manga; Chapter 276, page 13 Zommari Rureaux has a meditation room,Bleach manga; Chapter 269, page 8 while Coyote Starrk's room is designed along the lines of a lounging chamber,Bleach manga; Chapter 269, pages 9-11 and Aaroniero Arruruerie's tower, accessed via a hanging bridge, effectively keeps out sunlight and contains nooks and crannies for hiding cushions and other implements whose purpose is to make his shape-shifting abilities more convincing.Bleach manga; Chapter 266, page 19 According to Ulquiorra, any Espada ranked 4th or higher are not allowed to release their Zanpakutō within Las Noches, nor are any Espada allowed to discharge a Gran Rey Cero as both are powerful enough to destroy the majority of Las Noches.Bleach manga; Chapter 345, pages 7-9 After Aizen's defeat and the deaths of Starrk and Baraggan Louisenbairn, Tier Harribel becomes the ruler of Hueco Mundo.Bleach manga; Chapter 486, page 10''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 487, page 17 However, an empire called the Wandenreich appears, and she is personally defeated by Yhwach and captured. The Wandenreich empire claims Hueco Mundo as their dominion.Bleach manga; Chapter 485, pages 16-17 Grimmjow also survives the Invasion of Hueco Mundo and allies himself with Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends in order to help him fight Yhwach and the Wandenreich solely so that there can be a world left to fight Ichigo.Bleach manga; Chapter 625, page 4''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 630, page 2 History The creation of the Espada has long been one of Aizen's most important preoccupations. The original Espada were already in existence sometime before Aizen's defection from Soul Society and acquisition of the Hōgyoku. Since then, the composition of the Espada has changed, both in membership and position.Bleach manga; Chapter 254, page 1 At some point in the past Nnoitra Gilga was the 8th Espada''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 294, page 7 with Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck as the 3rd Espada''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 291, page 12 and Szayelaporro was not a member at all.Bleach manga; Chapter 295, page 1 During this time Aizen frequently sent the Espada out to search for the Vasto Lorde-class Menos.Bleach manga; Chapter 312, page 12 Before his death, Aaroniero Arruruerie was the sole member of the current Espada who was also part of the first-generation Espada.Bleach manga; Chapter 297, page 11 He was also the only Arrancar from Gillian-class Menos stock to attain a position among the Espada.Bleach manga; Chapter 267, page 7 Most of the Espada were Vasto Lorde.Bleach: Official Character Book 2 MASKED, page 133 Notable Members Privaron Espada An Espada may be demoted from the group either when they lose strength or cease to be useful to Aizen, such as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez after his left arm was cut off by Kaname Tōsen.Bleach manga; Chapter 230, page 12 In most cases, they will be demoted to the , who are former Espada that have officially lost their rank and are assigned a three-digit number.Bleach manga; Chapter 250, pages 19-20 Being former Espada, they are far stronger than the normal Números. They reside in . Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio states that these former "naturally created" Espada were rendered obsolete after Aizen began artificially creating Arrancar to meet his own standards.Bleach manga; Chapter 254, page 1 Espada-exclusive Powers & Techniques * is a variant of the Gillian-exclusive ability Negación used to punish Arrancar subordinates by trapping them eternally in an alternate dimension. However, should the Caja Negación be used on an Espada, the Espada will eventually break free (usually within a few hours), due to their large amount of Reiatsu.Bleach Manga; Chapter 278, pages 13-15 * is a variation of the Cero technique that can be used by the Espada by mixing their own blood with the Cero. The result is a Cero with a much greater attack power which can disturb the fabric of space.Bleach manga; Chapter 280, pages 13-14 It is forbidden for any of the Espada to perform Gran Ray Cero within Las Noches, as it could possibly destroy most of the enormous building.Bleach manga; Chapter 345, page 9 Trivia *In the anime, when Shawlong Koufang describes the Espada, eleven silhouettes are shown,Bleach anime; Episode 120 whereas in the manga there are only ten.Bleach manga; Chapter 209, page 9 *While he is not an Espada, Wonderweiss Margela is classified with Espada-level spiritual energy by Soul Society.Bleach manga; Chapter 231, page 1 References Navigation es:Espada fr:Espada ru:Эспада Category:Characters Category:Arrancar Category:Espada Category:Arrancar ranks Category:World of Bleach